What was hot at SXSW — and is coming to the Bay Area

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PHOTO BY MERI SIMON – Kati Claborn of Blind Pilot plays a mountain dulcimer during a South by Southwest show March 18, 2009, at a club called Submerged. ONE TIME USE ONLY. SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS AND BAY AREA NEWS GROUP. ALL OTHERS OUT.

It is America’s annual gathering of the musical tribe, a showcase for artists quite unlike anything else in this country.

Last week at South by Southwest in Austin, more than 1,800 bands played in more than 80 venues. For five days, Mike Mayer of the Mercury News and Jim Harrington of the Bay Area News Group prowled the streets of Austin in search of unknown bands on the verge of breaking out and better-known bands trying to establish a new sound, reinvigorate their careers or re-establish their street cred.

Here are eight bands and artists that particularly caught their attention and will be playing in the Bay Area over the coming weeks:

The skinny: If there was one complete unknown I saw who just electrified one SXSW audience after another, it was Frank Turner, above. A former punk rocker who has reinvented himself as a troubadour in the fashion of Billy Bragg. Turner was making his second appearance at SXSW. He noted that, last year, his nighttime showcase set was attended by four people. He’ll never have that worry again. Turner wears his heart on his sleeve. Heck, he heaves it in your face. His lyrics range from the political to the deeply personal. His passion onstage is invigorating and infectious. The music behind these amazing lyrics ranges from Irish folk to slashing guitar rock. And the band he’ll bring to town is a crack outfit out of Austin that he hired to tour with him and actually just met for the first time the morning of these SXSW shows.

The skinny: The Decemberists came to Austin as this year’s model of “The Band Most Likely to Break Big.” These Oregonians are already huge in the indie-pop world, but many believe their new album, “The Hazards of Love,” could launch the group into the mainstream. Vocalist Colin Meloy (above left, with Chris Funk) and his troupe performed “Hazards” from start to finish during their SXSW opening-night showcase, and the reaction from the crowd was modest at best. The new songs were quirky, bookish and full of antiquated vernacular — all Decemberists trademarks — but the added twist, a high-concept classic-rock sound, made for a concert that was a bit less engaging than past Decemberists’ gigs. It’s hard to imagine many of these songs being played on the radio, which means the group probably won’t become the next Death Cab for Cutie — and, just to be clear, that’s not a bad thing.

The skinny: Jane’s Addiction warmed up for its big reunion tour, the first since 1991 to feature the original lineup, by performing at Playboy magazine’s annual, invite-only “Rock the Rabbit” party. The quartet, consisting of vocalist Perry Farrell (far left, at left), guitarist Dave Navarro (near left), drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery, was in fine form as it treated listeners, and an array of mostly blond Playboy Bunnies, to such fan favorites as “Been Caught Stealing” and “Mountain Song.” Still, the group will need to up its game for the tour if it doesn’t want to get blown off the stage by co-headliner Nine Inch Nails, which is one of the most powerful live acts around.

The skinny: John Wesley Harding entered 2009 as he has every other year for the past 15 or so, as the most underrated songwriter on the planet. Instead of a traditional tour to sell his first new studio album in five years, Harding decided to indulge a long-held dream of his, to re-create an old vaudeville act with as many of his favorite artists as he could gather. The result is the Cabinet of Wonders show, and SXSW was the place he chose to give it its first run-through. Harding’s songs and Mirman’s routines alternate with guest spots by as many performers as Harding can round up on each stop on the tour. At SXSW, he added comedian Todd Barry and Mekons/Waco Brothers frontman Jon Langford. The timing was a bit off, as might be expected, and some parts of the show (like the use of some projected videos) still had a few kinks to be worked out, but that should be all better by the time they hit the Independent in San Francisco.

The skinny: Blind Pilot’s Americana folk plays out pretty and peaceful or as a countrified shuffle, but either way, great melodies are part of the equation. The other half, though, is the unique instrumentation. Music like this usually would be expressed with the typical tools: guitar, bass, drums, maybe a pedal steel. But Blind Pilot finds room live for trumpet, banjo, upright bass and vibes, and who else is making folk music with that combination of instruments? The band’s members provide depth and body, and nothing ever feels forced or out of place. They drew a lot of attention at SXSW when they were chosen to appear on NPR’s showcase, which features hot new talent. The core of the band is singer/guitarist Israel Nebeker and drummer Ryan Dobrowski, who put their instruments on their bikes, rode down the West Coast last year and played in small towns that never get touring shows. When they’re at home, they sometimes play as a nine-piece, but for SXSW they were seven strong, and the sound is big without ever overpowering the wonderfully subtle melodies, or the great vocal harmonies by Nebeker and banjo/dulcimer/ukelele player Kati Claborn (above). Befitting a group as smart and tasteful as Blind Pilot, its choice for a cover song at this show — Talking Heads’ “Road to Nowhere” — was inspired.

— Mike Mayer

Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head

Local date: April 4, the Warfield, San Francisco (opening for Lily Allen). $27.50, www.ticketmaster.com

The skinny: Celebrity gawkers will be disappointed to learn that Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head does not count its namesake starlet, with or without hair, among its members. What this quintet does offer is youthful exuberance, a synth-pop sound that marries disco with new wave and, perhaps most importantly, the best band name in the biz. The expiration date on the mix should read about 1987, but somehow NPSH’s take manages to still seem fresh.

The skinny: You’d guess a hundred different places — many European — before you’d think this girl is from Dallas. Annie Clark, who sings under the name St. Vincent, has been a member of the berobed Polyphonic Spree and part of Sufjan Stevens’ crew, but she now steps out front confidently with pop songs that don’t necessarily follow the tried-and-true path of some of her colleagues, Bush included. Her voice is imperfect, but infectiously so. Clark’s last album, “Marry Me,” put her on the map, but the new one, “Actor,” due out May 5, is expected to really make a mark. She was quite the buzz act at SXSW, and tickets for her show will go quickly.

The skinny: The expectations run mighty high when your dad is Steve Earle, your stepmom is Allison Moorer and you’re partly named after Townes Van Zandt. Yet this 27-year-old alt-country troubadour definitely delivered the goods in Austin. Indeed, in the category of sons following in famous fathers’ footsteps, Earle is at least as good as Shooter Jennings or Hank Williams III. His old-school, Hank Sr.-flavored tunes are full of regrets and cigarettes, trainlike whistles from the harmonica and plenty of “bye-bye baby.” There are a lot of country clichés going on here, but who better to deliver them than a guy named Townes Earle?

Jim Harrington is the pop music critic for the Bay Area News Group. He began writing about the Bay Area music scene in 1992 and became the full-time pop music critic for the organization's Oakland Tribune in 2006. He is a South Bay native and graduate of San Francisco State University.

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